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Interactive: Flydubai cockpit incident, Smit Machchhar, Hamam al-Hammami and the story so far
Wounded after being stabbed by his co-pilot, Captain Smit Machchhar fought to open the cockpit door as the FlyDubai plane plunged, allowing passengers to intervene.
Indian captain Smit Machchhar was seriously injured. The co-pilot, identified by Israeli officials as an Omani national, is accused of attacking him. (ANI/Reuters)
A pilot was injured. The aircraft was plunging. Inside the cabin, passengers had no idea what was happening in the cockpit. Flydubai Flight FZ1073 descended thousands of feet after the co-pilot attacked Captain Smit Machchhar, who, despite his injuries, managed to open the cockpit door and allow passengers to intervene.
Days later, the Indian pilot described those terrifying moments to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, recalling how he realised the aircraft was going down and made one final push to open the door. The co-pilot has since been identified as Omani national Hamam al-Hammami, who is now at the centre of a UAE terrorism investigation.
Here is what we know so far about the flydubai FZ1073 incident:
Image: flydubai
Image: flydubaiEXPRESS INFOGENIE · WHAT WE KNOW SO FARFlydubai FZ1073: Four hours that turned a routine flight into a crisis
SCROLL ↓September 30, 2026Confirmed
A routine morning flight
Flydubai flight FZ1073 left Dubai at 03:05 GMT, bound for Tel Aviv. The aircraft was a Boeing 737 MAX 8 carrying 182 people on board, AP reports.
Source: AP
CruisingFlight-tracking data
About 34,000 feet
For more than two hours the flight was uneventful, cruising across Saudi Arabia towards Israel.
Source: AP reconstruction of Flightradar24 data
03:05
GMT take-off, Dubai
737 MAX 8
Aircraft
182
People on board, per AP
~34,000 ft
Cruising height
Dubaitake-off · 03:05Tel AvivdestinationTabuklanded · 06:58JORDANSAUDI ARABIAUAEIRAQEGYPTThe routeFlight-tracking data
Dubai to Tel Aviv — ending in Tabuk
The red line shows the path flown. The flight never reached Tel Aviv: it turned back over Jordan and made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Source: AP, Flightradar24
05:42 – 05:46 GMTFlight-tracking data
A turn into Jordan
At 05:42 the aircraft turned west, briefly entering Jordanian airspace at 15,000 ft. At 05:46 it made a 180-degree turn towards Tabuk.
Why it took that route is one of the questions investigators are expected to examine.
Source: AP
05:42
Turns west into Jordan
05:46
180° turn to Tabuk
15,000 ft
Height over Jordan
34k ft30k ft25k ft20k ft15k ft05:20:3005:2305:26 GMT05:21 GMTFlight-tracking data
The plunge
34,000 → 16,600 ft
The descent began at 05:21:09. By 05:22:40 the aircraft had dropped to 16,600 feet — more than half its altitude.
Source: AP, Flightradar24
The next 200 secondsFlight-tracking data
Zigzagging through the sky
The aircraft climbed back to 21,725 ft, then dropped again to 15,000 ft at 05:24:29 — the height it held until landing. AP describes about 200 seconds of steep descents and climbs.
Source: AP
−17,400 ft
First drop, in about 90 seconds
~200 s
Of steep climbs and descents
15,000 ft
Held until landing
COCKPIT
Inside the cockpitAllegation
The captain was attacked
Indian captain Smit Machchhar was seriously injured. The UAE, which is leading the investigation, says the co-pilot attacked him with the cockpit’s crash axe and tried to take the controls of the plunging plane, calling it a “terrorist attack”.
Three people with knowledge of the situation have identified the co-pilot as Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani national.
Source: AP, Reuters
Inside the cabin
PASSENGER VIDEO
“Something was seriously wrong”
PASSENGER VIDEOFootage shared from inside the cabin shows passengers on their feet in the aisle as the crisis unfolded.
Video has not been independently verified by The Indian Express. No injuries are shown.
Source: Passenger video, via social media
The turning pointConfirmed
The door opens
Despite his injuries, Machchhar managed to open the locked cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to rush in and restrain the attacker. A reserve pilot on board took control.
Source: AP
AI-GENERATED ILLUSTRATION · NOT A PHOTOGRAPH
An artist’s reconstruction of the moment the wounded captain reached for the cockpit door, based on accounts from witnesses and Israeli authorities. This image was generated with AI. It is not a photograph of the incident, and the people shown are not the real crew.
Contains depictions of injury.
Captain
Seriously injured
Door
Opened from inside
Passengers
Restrained the attacker
Reserve pilot
Took control
TRANSPONDER
Distress codesFlight-tracking data
7700 → 7500 → 7700
At 05:28 the crew squawked 7700, a general emergency. At 05:35 it changed to 7500 — unlawful interference, or hijacking — and held it for about an hour, before returning to 7700 at 06:28.
Source: AP, Flightradar24
7700
05:28 · General emergency
7500
05:35 · Unlawful interference
~1 hour
7500 held
7700
06:28 · Back to emergency
06:58 GMTTABUK, SAUDI ARABIA
LandingConfirmed
Safe on the ground in Tabuk
Nearly four hours after take-off, the aircraft made an emergency landing at Tabuk airport.
Source: AP
06:58
GMT landing, Tabuk
~3h 53m
Take-off to landing
Tabuk
Saudi Arabia
The Indian pilot
Smit Machchhar
Photo: ReutersIn good health & recovering well
The Indian Embassy in the UAE says the captain is recovering. He was treated in Tabuk and later airlifted to the UAE, where India’s envoy visited him. He is in hospital in Abu Dhabi.
Source: Indian Embassy in the UAE, Gulf News, AP
“I had so many wounds. I had fallen down. I was fighting for my life. At one point I realized that if I didn’t get up … then passengers would lose their lives.”— Capt. Smit Machchhar, speaking to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a video call from hospital in Abu Dhabi (AP)
The co-pilot
From grounded in Oman to the flydubai cockpit
Three people with knowledge of the situation have identified him as Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani national. Here is what officials and sources have told AP so far.
BornSources say
UAE
Born in the UAE to a Syrian mother, a regional official says. How he obtained Omani nationality is not clear.
PilotSources say
Oman Air
Flew for Oman’s national airline.
GroundedSources say
Barred from flying
Oman barred him from flying over concerns he had adopted extremist views, and moved him to an administrative job at Oman Air.
HiredSources say
flydubai
He was later hired by the UAE-based airline. How far he was vetted is not clear.
Sept 30Sources say
Instagram deleted
His Instagram account was active until the day of the flight, then deleted.
In the airOfficial
Crash axe attack
The UAE says he attacked the captain with the cockpit’s crash axe and tried to seize the controls — a “terrorist attack”.
NowOfficial
Under investigation
Security agencies from four regional countries, aided by the US and other Western governments, are working to establish his motive.
Explained
Why is there an axe in the cockpit?
Airlines are generally required to carry a crash axe so crew can break open a window to escape, or a panel to reach a fire. It is stored within the crew’s reach and is not accessible to passengers.
Source: AP
The Israel question
Should he have been on this route?
Israel says it has agreements with foreign carriers to keep pilots from countries without diplomatic ties off flights to Israel. Israel and Oman have no formal diplomatic relations.
Source: Israeli government, via AP
No comment
Who has said what
flydubai says it cannot comment beyond its statements and that “there are many questions at this stage”. Oman Air did not comment; Oman’s government has said nothing publicly.
Source: AP
The aircraft
Part of the rudder torn away
The descent was so extreme that part of the rudder was torn away. Aviation experts have marvelled that the plane did not crash.
Source: AP
Source: AP, citing a regional official, a Gulf and a Western diplomat, and a person familiar with the matter. Not independently verified by The Indian Express.
Claims and the investigation
What is claimed — and what is known
Claim
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says the co-pilot underwent “Islamist radical indoctrination”
He said the co-pilot “was suicidal”
AP reports he gave no details to support the claim; on Friday he again said the co-pilot had undergone “Islamist radicalization”, without evidence
Oman had barred him from flying over concerns he had adopted extremist views, a regional official and a person familiar with the matter told AP
Official
Both the captain and the co-pilot were later taken to the UAE
The co-pilot has been identified as Hamam al-Hammami by three people with knowledge of the situation; his motive is not clear
The UAE, which leads the inquiry, calls it a “terrorist attack”: it says he used the cockpit crash axe and tried to seize the controls
He was moved to an administrative job at Oman Air, then hired by flydubai; how far he was vetted is unclear, sources say
Born in the UAE to a Syrian mother, according to a regional official; how he got Omani nationality is unclear
His Instagram account was active until the day of the flight and was then deleted
Security agencies from four regional countries, aided by the US and other Western governments, are working to establish his motive
Israel says it has agreements with foreign carriers to keep pilots from countries without diplomatic ties off its flights; Israel and Oman have no formal ties
The descent was so extreme that part of the rudder was torn away, AP reports
The UAE is investigating possible terrorist links, prior planning or direction
Israel says it will vet pilots and check identities on all flights into the country
Commercial travel between Israel and the UAE has been suspended; Israel is starting repatriation flights for stranded passengers
“I don’t make final conclusions yet.”— Benjamin Netanyahu
The hijacking theory
Hijacking — or an attempt to crash?
Tap to compare how the incident has been described
7500
Why “hijacking” was the first word used
At 05:35 the aircraft’s transponder switched to 7500, the code for unlawful interference, including a possible hijacking. Crews use such codes when speaking over the radio may not be possible or wise.
Early reports described a suspected hijacking of the Tel Aviv-bound flight.
Source: CNN, Newsweek, Flightradar24
↓
An apparent attempt to crash
AP now describes the incident as an apparent attempt by the co-pilot to crash the aircraft — not a takeover of the plane. The UAE says the co-pilot attacked the captain with the cockpit crash axe and tried to take control as the Boeing 737 plummeted, before passengers and others rushed in and subdued him. It calls this a “terrorist attack”.
Netanyahu has said the co-pilot appeared to intend to bring the aircraft down. That remains his claim; no evidence has been published.
Source: AP, UAE authorities, PBS NewsHour
?
Nothing ruled out
“All possible scenarios, from terrorism to mental disorders, are being looked into. Nothing is ruled out for now,” a regional official said.
The UAE, where the aircraft is registered, is examining whether the attack was linked to any terrorist purpose. Flydubai said the aircraft was “secured by on-duty crew members who diverted and landed the aircraft safely.”
Source: AP via PBS NewsHour
Still unanswered
What investigators need to establish
Tap a question to open it
Netanyahu has claimed radicalisation but offered no supporting details. Investigators are trying to establish whether he acted alone or had any link to extremist groups, a Gulf diplomat told AP.
Oman had barred him from flying over concerns about extremist views and moved him to a desk job at Oman Air, sources told AP. Why that did not stop him flying is a key question.
How flydubai vetted him before hiring him is not clear. Israel says it has agreements with foreign carriers to keep pilots from countries without diplomatic ties, such as Oman, off flights to Israel.
The UAE says he used the cockpit’s crash axe. Airlines must carry one to break a window or panel in an emergency; it is stored within the crew’s reach and not accessible to passengers.
How Saudi and Jordanian authorities responded to the emergency codes.
Why the aircraft briefly entered Jordanian airspace before turning to Tabuk.
Sources: AP, Reuters, Flightradar24, Indian Embassy in the UAE, Gulf News. All times GMT. The co-pilot is accused; his motive has not been established. Illustrations are stylised.
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